BOSTON, Mass. - Citing "gross misconduct," Massachusetts State Treasurer Deb Goldberg has fired Cannabis Control Commission Chair Shannon O'Brien.
It comes after Goldberg said she considered more than 20 hours of meetings, various documents, case law and policies.
She said O’Brien demonstrated she is unable to discharge the powers and duties of a CCC commissioner.
Meanwhile, State Rep. Michael Soter is calling for an investigation into Goldberg’s firing of O’Brien and said her firing "fails to address the deep-rooted dysfunction within the agency."
“Treasurer Goldberg is way off the mark on this,” Soter said. “She wasted $800,000 of taxpayer money for a what I guess is probably more of a personal vendetta than anything it looks like to me. She hasn’t supplied it back. She’s gone through with all this stuff and saying these accusations. For Deb Goldberg to do what she did and create more chaos at the CCC, which we already know is there. You know, this comes down to the treasurer just taking care of her people.”
Senator Michael Moore said while he's happy the treasurer made a decision about O’Brien’s employment, he's not happy the 80-page report on the allegations made against her are hidden from the public.
He said taxpayers paid for the investigation and they have a right to see the findings.
Goldberg named Commissioner Bruce Stebbins as acting chair of the Cannabis Control Commission.
He's served as a joint appointee of the treasurer, the governor, and the attorney general since 2021.